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The affection an aficionado has for his or her favorite subject isn't merely emotional-it's also etymological. Back in the early 1800s, English borrowed aficionado from the past participle of the Spanish verb aficionar, which means "to inspire affection." That verb comes from the Spanish noun afición, meaning "affection." Both Spanish words trace to the Latin affectio (which is also an ancestor of the English word affection). Affectio, in turn, is from afficere ("to influence") and gave English speakers the noun and verbs affect.

Examples of aficionado in a Sentence

Such are the issues that spark hot debate among pizza chefs and aficionados. I recently visited some of the most dedicated pizza makers in the United States to have them demonstrate what makes their pizza special.— Harvey Steiman, Wine Spectator, 30 June 2008The quality varies with the individual authors, but both history buffs and aficionados of literary criticism will find food for thought here. — Publishers Weekly, 8 Jan. 2001When film aficionados speak of film noir, they usually refer to the look and attitude of certain films. As critics have found, such films do not form a genre; at best, they suggest a movement.— Bonnie Smothers, Booklist, 15 Nov. 1999Beyond scuba diving, North Carolina's Crystal Coast and Cape Lookout are famous for fishing. Although I'm not an aficionado myself, prospective anglers need only walk the docks of Moorehead City to book inshore or Gulf Stream excursions …— James Sturz, New York Times, 26 Apr. 1998
an aficionado of the sci-fi series who has seen all the movies several times

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'aficionado.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.